Container terminal inaction remains a mystery

After years of hues and cries for a fully functional container terminal at the Port of Richards Bay, little has been done to soothe the impatience of some of Zululand’s biggest corporates and influential economic players.

The lack of container services continue to pack unnecessary logistical costs on the backs of companies already under strain with the weak global economy and will most certainly continue to turn away major investors.

Zululand boasts a rich agricultural sector, but the absence of local cooling containers, for example, mean little possibility of a thriving food exports business.

And all this simply curbs valuable job creation opportunities in an area desperate for growth.

It is not that government has not seen the sense of a container terminal in KZN’s major industrial hub.

Last year both President Jacob Zuma and KZN Premier Senzo Mchunu stated ‘there is no reason why Richards Bay should not have a container terminal’.

In 2011, Minister of Public Enterprises Malusi Gigaba emphasised that development is imperative to fire up the national economy and lower unemployment figures.

KZN MEC for Economic Affairs Mike Mabuyakhulu asserted ‘enough has been said about the terminal’ and demanded action be taken to establish the services.

Yet, nothing has been done by Transnet to prove they are willing to address this region’s gnawing cavity.

It begs the question, who is really calling the shots?

Clearly not even the President, Premier or MECs have a say in decisions made by the parastatal – a freight and logistics company that is supposed to be owned by the state.

When the world’s largest container ship and supply vessel operator, Maersk Line, see the logic in investing in Richards Bay, it is time Transnet does too.